Refrigerator



N. 0. LONG REFRIGERATOR Feb. 21, 1950 :5 Sheets- Sheet 1.

Filed Dec. 51, 1945 FIGURE 1 FIGURE 4 NORMAN 0 LONG INVENTOR B j &7 4? IFiled Dec. 31, 1945 SLSheets-Sheet 2 FIGURE 2 FIGURES NQIFMAN LNQENVENTOR Feb. 21, 1950 0, LONG 2,498,552

REFRIGERATOR Filed De. 31, 1945 s Sheets-Sheet 5 FIGURE 3 FEGURE. 6

FIGURE 7 r wo'nmm 0 LONG 4) amvsmoa Patented Feb. I 21, 195i) UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE Claims. 1 This invention relates to refrigeratedcontainers and more particularly to refrigerator cabinet l construction.

In refrigerator cabinets only a single means of access is usuallyprovided to the refrigerated por-- tion of the cabinet. This commonlycomprises a door or pair of doors which when opened permits immediateaccess to the contents of the refrigerated portion of the cabinet. Ingeneral such doors are constructed similarly to the walls enclosing therefrigerated portion of the cabinet, that is, insulated, and arepreferably sealed to prevent circulation of air in and about theclosure, as, for example, by means of a gasket,

It has also previously been known to provide, in addition to theinsulating outer door or doors of the refrigerated portion of thecabinet, an inner door or doors, usually transparent, as of glass orsimilar material, permitting inspection of the contents of the cabinetwithout permitting an interchange of the refrigerated air within thecabinet and the warmer air of the room. This is an advantage in avoidingloss of efllciency, increased cost of operation and in extreme casesoverloading the refrigerating machinery to the point of excessivelycontinuous operation, excessive wear and even failure.

Such secondary closures though advantageous, have in general the samedefects as the outer doors, namely, that.'when opened, the sameundesirable interchange of warm and refrigerated air occurs rapidly withconsiderable economic loss and increased cost of operation.

It is an object of the present invention to provide novel secondaryclosures for refrigerated cabinets.

It is a further object to provide means of accomplishing the purpose ofsuch secondary closures more efiectively than has heretofore beenpossible. v

It is a still further object to provide convenient means combining theadvantages of secondary closures, avoiding theprincipal defects of thedevices of the prior art.

Other and further objects will be apparent from the followingdescription.

According to the present invention the foregoing objects areaccomplished by providing within the outer closure of a refrigeratedcabinet a secondary closure, adjustable by sliding and capable of be-.

ing raised to a closed position and lowered to an open position. Theslidable closure may be a panel of one piece or may comprise aplurality. of sections. In one piece, the secondary closure may level ofthe refrigerated compartment preferably through a felt or otherwisegasketed slot or into a closed well in the cabinet. Such a gasketmaterial serves to seal the refrigerated portion of the cabinet againstheat interchange through the slot. Alternatively the secondary closureof this invention may be fabricated of one piece of fiexiq ble plastic,preferably though not essentially transparent. In such case the closuremay in its open position be directed downward as with a non-flexiblematerial or, more advantageously, be directed backward and under therefrigerated compartment. It is also possible to arrange for closures ofnon-flexible or slightly flexible materials to be directed underneaththe refrigerated compartment by sub-dividing into connected segments andproviding suitable guides to direct its movement to the desired openposition.

As previously indicated, my secondary closures may be fabricatedadvantageously of transparent material such as glass or preferably of aplastic such as polystyrene, methyl methacrylate or aliphatic vinylresins such as vinyl chloride-vinyl acetate copolymers or any othersuitable material. It may be advantageous in some cases to use flexiblesheets of plastic since they may be particularly easily directed to anopen position beneath the refrigerated portion of the cabinet. In usingbe opened by sliding downward below the bottom heavier. substantiallynon-flexible plates of ma- I terials it may be easier to arrange theopen position of the closure immediatel below the closed or raisedposition of the closure. Such relatively non-flexible plates may,however, be divided into suiliciently narrow sections suitably held andspaced. Alternatively, adjoining segments of my inner closure may becompletely interlocking but suitably articulated, as by a lockedtongue-and-groove joint. By such means the position of such non-flexiblematerials when not in use may be arranged beneath the refrigeratedcompartment. When in use the segments are preferably arranged closely toavoid leakage of refrigerated air.

My invention may be exemplified by reference to the drawings attached toand forming a part of this specification, more particularly described asfollows:

Figures 1 to 7, inclusive, show various embodiments of m invention andcomprise the parts further to be described. Within the cabinet I,containing a refrigerating unit 2, the inner door 4 shown in Figure 1 isa unit piece, and is segmented in Figures 2 and 3. The inner door bearsa handle or handles, slot or other suitable device 9 to permit manualoperation. The inner door,

. 3 4 wheth a unit or segmented. moves in a guide It which Figure 34ssnugly fitting to provide sufficient friction to support the door. InFigures l and? the guides l8 permit free motion of the inner door. InFigure-1, the inner door. is balanced by a counterweight i connected tothe inner door 4 by flexible means I such as a cable, wire, chain, ropeor the like arranged over a support which may be a suitable pulley 5. Inoperation the counterweight 6 moves in a well it and the inner door 4descends into its recess or well 8 provided in the lower part of cabinetI. The well 8 may be advantageously totally closed except for the slotby which the inner door enters. Furthermore it should be easily raisedor otherwise readily removed to provide access to the compartment behindit.

In Figure 2, the segmented inner door 4 moves downwardlyand winds onto aroller I2 which is actuated by an internal spring or other suitabledevice. In Figure 3, the extensions H of the guides I3 are arrangedhorizontally, the inner door or portions thereof not in use beingarranged beneath the refrigerated compartment. Where the length of theinner door is greater than the depth of the cabinet, the excess may beallowed to hang vertically from the rear ends of the horizontalextensions l4; may be returned around a bend to a second horizontalextension under the refrigerated compartment, or may be folded at therear of the cabinet.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 illustrate side views of Figures 1, 2 and 3,respectively, Figure '7 shows a horizontal cross section view throughthe inner closure and guides of any of the other figures.

Various alternatives may be used within the scope and spirit of myinvention. Thus, the segmented forms of my inner closure in an openedposition may be draped below its closed position by fixing the lower endsegment to the underside of the refrigerated compartment near the front.It may be advantageous in some cases for the inner closure to cover therefrigeration unit 2 and the uppermost shelf, rising in its closedposition to the top of the cabinet I. I

In the figures, the opened outer doors 3 are shown end-on, revealingshelves ii. The doors are supported by suitable hinges.

llL'sub-combinations of my invention may be pracinner and outer air, isthe significantly decreased introduction of moisture and the resultantless frequent need for the economically costly and inconvenientdefrosting operation to obfyin satisfactory operation, particularly inthe maintenance of adequately low temperatures for the protection of thecontents of the refrigerated compartment.

It is to be understood that various features and ticed without referenceto other features and subcombinations within the spirit of my invention.I do not wish to be limited to the specific details shown and describedbut only by the appended claims interpreted as broadly as the artpermits.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment havingan access opening,

' an outer closure and a transparent inner closure It is an advantage ofmy secondaryclosures for refrigerated cabinets that easy inspection ofthe contents of said cabinet is provided when the outer door or doorsare opened. However, it is possible with my secondary closure \to obtainaccess to the upper portion of the refrigerated compartment withoutopening the-entire compartment which would permit undesirable heatexchange between refrigerated air and warmer outside air to occur. Inthis way, the containers and other contents most frequently used,removed and/or introduced into the refrigerated compartment may be madeavailable without warming the entire compartment and contents. Becausethe heavier, colder air will occupy the lowermost portion of thecompartment, it is possible, using the secondary closure of myinvention, to provide lower storage temperatures than can otherwise beobtained with the same refrigerating unit. Furthermore, more constantstorage temperatures are maintained and losses of perishable contentsare reduced or avoided. When necessary, access to the lower portions ofthe refrigerated compartment is easy, but unnecessary opening andexposure of such lower portions is usually avoided. A further advantageof my improved therefor, said inner closure in its closed position beingadjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure isin its closed position, said inner closure in its open position beingbelow the storage compartment, sealing guides for said inner closureextending vertically at each side of said access opening adjacent theinner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in itsclosed position, said guides extending below the level of the bottom ofthe storage compartment, and means for refrigerating said storagecompartment.

2. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment havingan access opening, an outer closure and a transparent inner closuretherefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent theinner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in itsclosed position, said inner closure in its open position being below thelevel of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealing channel guidesfor said inner closure extending vertically at each side of said accessopening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outerclosure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the levelof the bottom of the storage compartment, and means for refrigeratingsaid storage compartment.

3. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment havingan access opening, an outer closure and a transparent, segmented innerclosure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position beingadjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure isin its closed position, said inner closure in its open position beingbelow the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealingchannel guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each sideof said access opening adjacent the inner side of said outer closurewhen said outer closure is in its closed position, said guides extendingbelow the level of the bottom of the storage compartment, and means forrefrigerating said storage compartment.

4. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment havingan access opening, an outer closure and a transparent, segmented innerclosure therefor, said inner closure in its closed position beingadjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outer closure isin its closed position, said inner closure in its open position beingbelow the level of the bottom of the storage compartment. sealingchannel guides for said inner closure extending vertically at each sideof said access opening adjacent the inner closure, resulting fromdecreased interchange of 76 side of said outer closure when said outerclosure is in its closed position, said guides extending below the levelof the bottom of the storage compartment, a spring actuated roller belowthe level of the bottom of the storage. compartment, said roller havingattached thereto the lower edge of said inner closure, and means forrefrigerating said storage compartment.

5. In a refrigerator, a cabinet comprising a storage compartment havingan access opening. an outer closure and a transparent inner closuretherefor, said inner closure in its closed position being adjacent theinner side of said outer closure when said outer closure is in itsclosed position, said inner closure in its open position being below thelevel of the bottom of the storage compartment, sealing channel guidesfor said inner ,closure extending vertically at each side of said accessopening adjacent the inner side of said outer closure when said outerclosure is in its g 6 closed position, said guides extending below theREFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,127,379 Adams Aug. 16, 19382,136,145 Miner- Nov. 8, 1938 2,139,779

Stratton Dec. 13, 1938

